London, United Kingdom / Redwood City, California, United States, September 1 2020 – Avast (LSE:AVST), a global leader in cybersecurity and privacy products, today announced it has become a member of Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a UK charity responsible for finding and removing images and videos of child sexual abuse from the internet. Avast will work with IWF to filter out webpages identified as hosting child abuse imagery, helping to crack down on the creation and sharing of such content and ensuring unsuspecting internet users are not inadvertently exposed to the disturbing content. 

Susie Hargreaves, Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, said, “We are very excited to be teaming up with Avast. As a charity, we use the best technology to fight against the spread of online child sexual abuse material. Working with Avast, with their huge experience in the field, will boost this mission and have a very real impact on the safety of children around the world.”

The IWF has over 150 members globally, comprising technology companies, content providers, hosting companies and security leaders, who are all committed to making the internet a safer place. 

IWF has worked tirelessly over the past 24 years to take the UK from being a major host of online child sexual abuse content to hosting less than 1% of such content worldwide today. Partnering with global technology companies like Avast is an important step in extending its programme which now operates in 40 countries worldwide to tackle the problem on a global scale.

Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer at Avast said, “The IWF has an extremely challenging job in tackling this horrific problem which has become more prevalent as technology and the internet has evolved. Our purpose is to make the online world a safer place and as part of this commitment, we are partnering with organisations who share our goals, by providing technical support and skilled resource. We hope that working with IWF to block the sharing of this content online, we can also help prevent the re-victimisation of the children featured, and even aiding, if at all possible, the rescue of some of these children. Any role we can play to reduce the abuse of children must be right and we will not compromise in our mission to stop online harm.”  

About IWF:
The Internet Watch Foundation helps make the internet a safer place. It works to help victims of child sexual abuse worldwide by identifying and removing online images and videos of their abuse. 

IWF analysts search for child sexual abuse images and videos and offer a place for the public to report them anonymously. They can then have them removed. The IWF is a not for profit organisation and is supported by the global internet industry and the European Commission. 

For more information please visit www.iwf.org.uk.  

The IWF is part of the UK Safer Internet Centre, working with Childnet International and the South West Grid for Learning to promote the safe and responsible use of technology.

The IWF works globally to stop child sexual abuse imagery on the internet. If you ever stumble across a sexual image or video of someone you think is under 18, please report to the IWF. Reporting can be done anonymously and confidentially – we don’t need your details, just your help.